Tag Archives: Cars

Rethinking Electric Vehicles and the Power Grid

Ford F150 Lightning Electric Truck

Ford just announced an electric truck for the masses, the Ford F-150 Lightning, with up to 300 miles of range starting at just under $40,000.

That is about as much detail as I’m going to go into about this new electric truck from Ford, and you won’t find me comparing it to Tesla’s Cybertruck or GM’s electric Hummer. I’ll leave that that to the gearheads.

The purpose for today’s article on Human-Centered Change™ and Innovation is not to compare electric truck specifications, but instead to highlight a somewhat buried feature of the new Ford F-150 Lightning Electric Truck:

Ford is providing an 80-amp home charging station that completely charges the truck in eight hours, or allows buyers to easily use the truck to power their entire home for around three days in the event of an electricity outage.

Sometimes what seems like a minor benefit outside the typical product feature set actually has the potential to shift mindsets and customer expectations. AND, it leads to a series of questions:

Have you spent $10,000-20,000 on a Tesla Powerwall battery backup system for your house?

Or thousands of dollars on a more traditional partial home generator?

Have you ever thought about using your car or truck to power your house?

What if this were to become a common expectation of consumers of electric vehicles?

If this became a key differentiator between internal combustion and electric vehicles, might this help to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles in the United States and elsewhere?

And what might the implications be for utilities and the power grid?

Stay tuned! It will be interesting to monitor how this situation develops and whether other electric vehicle manufacturers modify their marketing strategies, leading to one final question:

Innovation or not?

Image credit: yahoo


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Cars Don’t Have to Be Beige and Boring – Nobe 100

Cars Don't Have to Be Beige and Boring - Nobe 100

Estonia is known for pushing the boundaries as it tries to establish itself as a haven for innovation, and out of Estonia comes the latest in a string of interesting electric car projects. This one is super sexy for those of us that think that cars have gotten BORING. Check out the video to see what I mean.



Below you’ll find a second video that digs a little deeper into the project and provides more of an editorial.

But before you check it out you might want to investigate a bit more about what Estonia is trying to do to make itself an innovation powerhouse.

Is the design so sexy that you’ll want to lick it? I’ll leave that for you to decide, but I do like the idea of a removable battery. I’m surprised this is the first electric car that I’ve seen that touts this as a feature. I always assumed that the gas pumps at service stations would be replaced by racks of batteries eventually, but that has yet to happen and it is kind of hard for such a transition to start taking place if none of the electric car manufacturers are making cars with removable batteries. Whether or not it was necessary to go to the extreme of making the removable battery look like a nostalgic leather suitcase I’m not quite sure, but it does keep the experience consistent.

This is a crowdfunding project so if it excites you, check out their investment page.

So, only one question remains… Innovation or not?


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Keeping Your Best Friend Safe

Every so often something comes along that is super funny, super cute, and super functional, all at the same time.

Check out the video below and then we’ll dive in to the innovation potential of The Rocketeer Pack by ZuGoPet.

I’m sorry, but I laugh every time I see this video, but at the same time I recognize that their solution is actually quite logical and practical.

I also have to laugh at the sizing guide, which suggests that you measure your dog in the “begging” position.

ZuGoPet Rocketeer Pack Dog on MotorcycleFor an extra bonus the harness for the car can also be used as a front pack, meaning you can now take little ChiChi out for a ride on your motorcycle when he gets tired of riding in the car.

My early reactions? A Great idea with okay execution. I think they may be able to improve the design to make it easier to use, and as a result increase adoption but then I’ve never actually used one so I’m just judging by the video.

I do have to say that the video did highlight that seatbelts for people are badly in need of a re-design. I have a design for a built-in four point seatbelt that automobile manufacturers or insurance companies are welcome to talk to me about if they’re interested in increasing passenger safety and decreasing injury claims.

So, what do you think? Innovation or not?

Image credit: zugopet.com


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Innovation or Invention? – Gyroscopically Stabilized Electric Motorcycle

Innovation or Invention? - Gyroscopically Stabilized Electric MotorcycleI came across the C-1 from Lit Motors in an article by Donna Sturgess over on Innovation Excellence that made me wonder, will this be an invention or an innovation?

As you may know my definition of innovation stresses that a new offering must transform the useful seeds on invention into solutions valued above every existing alternative. An there are lots of existing alternatives in this space including:

  • Bicycle
  • Public Transportation
  • Skateboards and Razr Scooters
  • Smart ForTwo
  • BMW C1 (launched in 2000)
  • Standard Motorcycle
  • Standard Scooter
  • Segway
  • Segway Hands-Free
  • Nissan Leaf (and variants)

Is the gyroscopic stabilization and electric drive enough to distinguish it from some of these other options?

What about at a price of $24,000 – up from earlier estimates of $16,000?

For me there are a couple of key questions. Are they going to try to keep it categorized as a motorcycle or try and get it categorized as a car? And if so, will it survive the car crash safety tests. Although getting it re-classified as a car might make it more accessible (no motorcycle license needed), I have a hard time thinking the greater access would offset the publishing of head on and rear crash test results (and pictures). So, I would place this one in the invention camp – unlikely to reach wide adoption.

What do you think? Invention or innovation?

Is this something that will catch on with commuters around the world?

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